


I Don't Wanna Be Sad

by typicaltorii



Category: Sanders Sides, Thomas Sanders
Genre: College!AU, Guitarist!Virgil, Just mostly fluff idk, M/M, Roman's a theater geek obviously, Song fic, bonding over pizza
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-05-02
Updated: 2018-05-02
Packaged: 2019-04-30 00:21:09
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,688
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14484537
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/typicaltorii/pseuds/typicaltorii
Summary: Just a classic tale of creeping on your rarely-seen dormmate as they rock out to their favorite song.It's honestly just a short little fic that I had the idea for at 3am.





	I Don't Wanna Be Sad

**Author's Note:**

> Hello folks. I highkey suggest you read this story with this song in the background because *surprise* it's the song Virgil is singing. You can obviously skip it if you want, but it may not make as much sense without it: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6oWUkmZFo_U

It was the third week of his first semester of college, and Roman had yet to see his incredibly elusive dorm mate. Not only had the guy gotten to the dorm far earlier than Roman, he had set up his half of the room and was long gone before Roman had come in that afternoon. The most signs of life he saw from the other half of the dorm was the occasional empty Hot Pocket container on a paper plate on the desk or the tangled sheets of his bed, just slightly more messed up than the night before.

And it wasn't like Roman wasn't hoping to see the guy either. He was simply curious about the guy behind the half dozen or so band posters, the vacant guitar stand in the corner, the dark items of clothing occasionally scattered around the room. From what Roman could tell, he looked like an emo nightmare. It was a shame he had no actual confirmation though.

Roman tightened his grip on his messenger bag as he dragged himself through the common room and down the hallway, nearly leaning against the wall in exhaustion. Play practice had been brutal today, and it seemed no matter what Roman did, the director was not pleased. It was three hours of feeling completely incompetent, and that was soul-sucking.

Roman noticed the slight noise coming from his dorm way before he even noticed it. Roman wearily checked his watch. 2:26pm. Rarely anyone was in the dorms at this time on a Friday afternoon.

As Roman approached, he could barely hear the opening riff of a guitar and a bright voice over a strong bass line. It was a song Roman didn't recognized, and he pressed his ear to his door.

The only reasonable explanation for this surprising turn of events would be that his roommate was there.

Roman tried to open the door quietly, but it didn't really matter much in the long run as the more he opened the door, the louder the song became. It was almost headache-inducingly loud, but it was so upbeat Roman would have felt bad for telling his roommate to turn it down.

As he peeked around the corner to their small sitting area (could you even call it that if it was a beat up couch and two chairs Roman had stolen from the cafeteria?) around the TV Roman had brought with him from home, he saw one of the most unusual sights of the day.

A lithe boy, at least a head shorter than Roman and maybe a third of his weight, was jumping around the sitting area, completely rocking out to the song blasting through a bluetooth stereo he had propped against the TV stand. His dark hair was falling into his eyes, and his smile was so wide it revealed some absurdly cute dimples.

“But I'm through, I’m done, I’ve had enough. I'll ditch this funk, I'll tell you what. Just watch me now, ‘cause I won't back down,” the boy sang along, air guitaring as he rocked his head, “I’ve got a badass personality, so I just need to set it free! And it starts today! I’m on my way!”

Roman watched as the boy jumped onto the couch energetically, swapping the air guitar for a pretend microphone and his smile growing impossibly wider. “No, I don't wanna be sad! I don't wanna be sad, sad, sad no more! And I know some days will be bad, but I don't wanna be sad, sad, sad no more!”

Roman nearly laughed as the boy pantomimed dropping the mic and swinging it by a chord in a circle, like he was on stage performing for a real audience. Roman could feel the bass reverberating through his body and he had to keep himself from dancing along to the song.

“I don't wanna be sad,” the boy’s voice was light and melodic as he captivatingly sang the through the bridge, “I don't wanna be sad. I don't wanna be sad! Sad, sad, sad, sad, sad!”

Suddenly, the guitar, drums and bass dropped from the song, and the sudden whiplash of the energy of the song nearly made Roman’s head spin. The boy had jumped from the couch, back turned to Roman and preventing him from seeing the dazzling smile that was on his face just a second ago.

The guy’s voice was hauntingly beautiful as he sang the chorus, and Roman felt a weight in his chest. The boy inflected the words just so, just enough to show that the lines connected to him in a way Roman may never understand.

Suddenly, the rest of the instruments sprang back to life, and the small second of emotion was immediately expelled as the boy continued to dance around the room. As the chorus repeated one last time, Roman watched the boy do a horrible impression the moonwalk and nearly trip over his own feet as he sidestepped into a chair.

As the song came to a grand finish, the boy threw his right hand into the air, an Roman could see just how heavily he was breathing from where he was spying around the corner. The boy held the pose for a second, before letting his arm fall and promptly collapsed backwards onto the couch.

Roman knew the longer he put off making his presence known, the more awkward it would when he did finally alert his roommate to his existence.

“Nice song,” Roman said as he fully leaned around the corner, trying to make it appear as though he had just come in. Of course, his roommate still jumped all the same, his startled reaction nearly sending him off the couch.

“You're here! Why are you here,” the guy stuttered profusely, standing quickly and grabbing a guitar case Roman had never seen before, “Sorry. I'll be on my way. Sorry.”

“Hey, hold on,” Roman said, stretching his arms and putting his hands on either wall of the doorway, blocking the boy that was trying desperately to duck around him with his guitar case in hand, “Don't go yet. This is the first time I've ever even seen you! I was starting to believe I had a cryptid as a roommate.”

The boy snorted lightly, a small smile on his face as he huffed, having yet another exit path blocked off from him. The boy looked up at Roman through his bangs, deep brown irises glinting from the shadows of the afternoon sun. They were...beautiful.

“Come on,” Roman smiled, feeling just the slightest of blushes crawling up his neck, “Stay awhile.”

The boy looked between Roman and the door, eyes lingering on the closed door behind Roman before sighing, turning around sharply as he wandered back to his desk, propping his guitar case against his desk gingerly.

“Honestly,” the boy said after a minute, still turned towards his case, “I really don't have anywhere else to go right now.”

“Busy person then,” Roman guessed as he plopped down on the couch, pulling his sneaker off carelessly and tossing them next to the armrest. The boy passed behind the couch, lightly taking seat on the other end of the couch with his phone in hand.

“Not really,” He said, typing quickly onto this phone, “Everyone just in class right now. Nowhere better to be.”

Roman hummed as he threw his other shoe in the same general direction as the other before glancing over to his roommate.

He really was quite pretty, Roman devastatingly realized. The boy’s eyelashes nearly brushed his cheek, and Roman had guessed the black clothes that were filling up the other half of their conjoined closets was just a wannabe emo attempt, but seeing the boy sporting a form-fitting black t-shirt made Roman think that maybe it was because the boy just looked good in black.

“Yes,” the boy questioned, eyes not leaving the phone but his tone sharp. The boy’s black nail polish glinted with every movement of his hands, “Is there a problem?”

“Nope,” Roman responded hastily, feeling his cheeks burn, “I just feel like I need to record this moment for history. Like this a rare spotting or something.”

The boy didn't say anything, but an amused smile found it way onto his face. Roman felt very encouraged.

“What's your name,” Roman asked as he turned to the boy. He paused in his typing, looking like he was mulling over the answer as though he was telling Roman his social security number.

“Virgil,” he said after a beat, “My name’s Virgil. You can call me Virge.”

Roman felt like he had just gotten an achievement or something. Trophy Earned: Learn the Cryptid’s Name. “Pleasure to meet you, Virge. I'm Roman.” Roman offered his hand out to Virgil, and he hesitantly took it, shaking it lightly before pulling away.

Roman thought for a second he saw a bit of pink on Virgil’s cheeks.

The boys sat in silence for a second, a bit of awkwardness making it just a touch uncomfortable. As Virgil continued to type away at his phone, Roman glanced over the room, just taking note of everything. His eyes landed on an empty Hot Pocket container just barely peeking over the rim of the trash can next to Virgil’s desk, and a fantastic idea came to Roman.

“Hey,” Roman turner sharply to Virgil, again nearly starting him off the couch, “You want pizza?”

The confused look on Virgil’s face was downright adorable as he slowly said, “Sure?”

Maybe Roman was just a little enthusiastic over learning more about Virgil, but he couldn't help himself. As he dragged Virgil across campus to the best pizzeria in the city, he couldn't help but become interested in his short, adorable roommate. It was so easy to talk to him, too. Not only did Virgil get in on a scholarship, he knew everything there was to know about musicals. The minute Virgil mentioned something about Disney, Roman knew he liked Virgil.

And all that brought them together was a good song, some not-so-casual spying, and pizza. Isn't that how all great stories start?


End file.
